Japan Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami - Measurements with Ny-Ålesund Super Conducting Gravimeter

Japan Tsunami Knock-out of Polar Instruments



Credit NOAA

Above you see the ocean wide tsunami wave propagation. It was not that kind of wave that knocked out the geodetic instrument situated close to the North Pole though. It was the gravitational consequences of all that mass movement, both the continental plates and the immense water body.

See the graphs from Ny-Ålesund here.

Space Mobilized for Japan

Space mobilized for Japan



Japan is well prepared for disasters, but this combined earthquake and tsunami is too much even for them. The international community has agreed to make their earth observation satellites available to governments in needs, like Japan right now, through the International Charter Space and Major Disasters. There will be satellite images based on various techniques available soon, also to the public. Right now, it is the specialist and crisis teams who use them.